Easter Weekend 'Hiccup'??

Easter weekend weather proved to be AWESOME, not what had been predicted, which is always a good thing! On Saturday morning I helped at the Orere School Gala day on the 'White Elephant' stall. I LOVE school galas. You can pick up such bargains. The old saying 'One person's junk is another's treasure' is so true. I enjoyed getting to know a couple of the mums of children I worked with at school last year. Cindy's 6 children are all great kids & Elizabeth has 3 gorgeous boys, the eldest born with Downs Syndrome. I had to leave about an hour before the gala finished as we had Jen & Roy's grandaughter, Lucy's, Dedication to attend at 2pm. It was great seeing Marion & Ross, our neighbours beside our old bach, Robin & John, Terry & Elaine, all friends & fellow parishioners from Howick who holiday at 'The Point!' Catching up with friends is what life's ALL about I reckon!!

Lucy's Dedication was really lovely & once again two people from 'my past' were there...a lady I used to play badminton with & another who I always saw at church in the late 70's with her pre-school daughter & carrying her older, handicapped son. I always admired this lady, who could have probably left her son at home with his dad but chose to bring him to Mass, EVERY week. He died when he was about 12, which must have left a huge hole in her life. Her daughter, Sarah, remembers Raelene from Howick College but is 3 years younger. She is getting married early next year to a lovely Pommy guy, Sandy. Sarah & Sandy did beautiful readings as Lucy's God-Parents. I am going to keep in touch with Jean. She is a lot older than me, but she now lives with her husband Michael on a few acres out of Morrinsville. It is amazing the number of people we have met who have done the 'country change' like we have.

After the Dedication we picked Sheri & Steve up in Howick & headed home for a yum roast lamb dinner & Pavlova!!! 1 more sleep until they go on their 'adventure of a lifetime!'
Sunday morning dawned sunny & warm. We headed off to Mass at Howick, which Father Pat officiated at just beautifully. His sister was dying & he 'shared' his thoughts with us present....very moving :(
After Mass, we went to 'Denny's' for their 'ever-so-good' breakfasts, then to the airport to book in for their 1:30pm flight to Thailand via Sydney. It was sad saying 'GOODBYE'....seem to have done a lot of that lately :( BUT thats life...your kids are only LENT...they are all healthy & happy in their lives and that is the main thing!!

We arrived home early afternoon to find our little white car (who we call 'Lil Toot') sitting on the other side of our LOCKED (thank goodness) gate in the ditch??? Obviously we realised instantly we had been burgled....NOT the nicest thought to experience on Easter Sunday (or any day for that matter?) The car had its front windows down & was loaded with Ross' boat motor, petrol tank, brand new unused fishing rod, my little black back-pack AND the culprit's singlet, t shirt & cap?? How dumb can you get??? Rob someone then leave YOUR OWN GEAR at the scene of the crime. We realised we were dealing with someone who wasn't too bright, thats for sure. Next thing, Pup appeared, with dirty legs, obviously she had been down in the farmer's creek, maybe chasing the mongrels...who knows. We had left her locked in the garage, laundry area so they must have put the garage door up for her to get out :{ (Thank goodness, these idiots didn't look in the glove box, as the gate key was there? Thank U Lord!!)

Pup would have gone BALISTIC...She is SO wary of strangers. She sounds like a Rottweiller when barking. IF ONLY SHE COULD TALK. We gingerly came up to the house & on walking right around it, couldn't find any window or door open or unlocked? We came inside (the alarm had been turned off) & there was no evidence of intruders. OK...I thought...if you're gonna have burglars...at least its good to have TIDY burglars. Ours were VERY tidy. Unfortunately they found 'Lil Toot's' set of keys with all other house keys, alarm & garage door remote which was a bit of a worry. Three sets of my 'best' earrings were missing, along with some cheap, mostly Kleins jewellery I have had for years & never wear anymore anyway (& meant to take to the Gala to sell?) It really was bizarre how LITTLE they took? 'Stealing to order' we thought? By a stroke of luck, on inspecting my back-pack later on, I found one set of my earrings in the bottom!!

Unfortunately, there is a family who are transient throughout the country & every time they come back here, someone gets burgled? Yesterday when the lovely police-lady, Lorraine, came for me to fill out 7 pages of info required, I gave her their surname & other details the neighbours had given me. Last night I also rang the farmer whose (old run-down) house they rent. Our neighbours hope that if everyone complains to him when they get burgled, he just might evict them. Here's hoping. We DON'T need scum like them roaming around here, thats for sure. On Easter Monday Ross went & bought new locks & the alarm guy came yesterday morning to change the code etc, so the remote thats missing won't work IF they do return? They have access to 'Lil Toot' though so Ross is taking the battery out every night until we can store it in the garage.

In the middle of all this, one of our calves, Zinny has been unwell since last Tuesday & although he has been 'holding his own' I wasn't happy with him yesterday so called Barry & Rosemary's vet from Maramarua for a second opinion. The 'young girl' vet (I AM getting old...ha!) duly arrived just as it started to rain & thankfully Ross drove in just after, as I was in the middle of giving info to Lorraine. Then Jen & Roy arrived for a quick visit with the most gorgeous posy bowl of flowers. They were really angry about our burglary & wanted to make sure we were ok. TRUE FRIENDS these people...salt of the earth..what more can I say. WE LOVE U BOTH HEAPS!!!! Thanks for your much cherished friendship!!

Because we don't have a holding pen, Ross had to phone the farmer, who duly arrived on his quad bike with 3 of his working dogs & they headed 'our boys' down the road with some of his young cows (its better in a group apparently) to his holding pens about 2 kms away. Poor Zinny was really in a bad way when they got there but the vet was able to administer antibiotics etc & has given Ross extra medication to give him today & tomorrow. In the meantime they will stay down at the farmer's yards. The paddock looks EMPTY without them?

Today has dawned sunny & warm again. After the last few weeks waking between 4-5am, I just couldn't wake up this morning?? I felt really 'drained' & a bit weepy :( I DONT want the burglary to affect me. I don't want to be intimidated in my own home...and I'm determined NOT to be. Otherwise they win...and thats not gonna happen!! What goes around, comes around with these LOSERS.

As I prepare to sign off..finally...hope your eyes aren't strained...#1 daughter is in Phoenix, Arizona, USA; #2 daugher is in Tasmania (where she lives); #3 daughter is in Thailand and #1 son is in Sydney!!! Our 4 BLESSINGS sure get around. God bless them all & you too!!